A New Zealand ballroom dancer has apologised on social media after his "totally irresponsible" post arguing against the use of face masks.
Brendon Cole, former 'Strictly Come Dancing' star, was slammed after sharing a 'repost' on social media that there was no proof masks would protect against COVID-19.
"The first randomised trial of more than 6000 individuals to assess the effectiveness of surgical face masks against Sars-CoV-2 infection did not statistically significantly reduce the incident of infection," he posted on Thursday.
"The so-called 'Danmask-19 Trial,' published November 18, 2020, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, include 3,030 individuals assigned to wear a surgical face mask and 2,994 unmasked controls."
Dr Joshua Wolrich, an NHS surgical doctor immediately hit back.
"No it didn't," he commented. "We already know they do and have plenty of studies looking at it."
"Think before you share cr*p that fits with what you want to believe, otherwise you become directly responsible for people coming to harm.
"Do the right thing and delete this misinformation."
Cole's fans also urged him to delete the message as he was "putting others at risk".
"Hell Brendan… I love you but the world does not need your medical advice," one wrote.
"Totally irresponsible for someone in the public eye to share this rubbish. Of course masks are not 100 percent safe and that is why we must also adjust our distance and how we live our life…" another wrote.
"I work in healthcare and have had patients refuse to use masks because of this type of misinformation putting others at risk."
The 'Strictly Come Dancing' star apologised on social media on Saturday, and deleted the post.
"I have deleted the post that I reposted earlier as I am not in the business of causing offence to people and clearly it has pissed many of you off," he wrote.
"I am entitled to my opinion on the subject but if I have offended you, for this I am sorry."
"I wish you all well and hope that the many people whose lives are in ruins because of the various measures put in place will stay strong and somehow recover."
